SHELBY — Rep. Marilyn John (Shelby) hopes she can use her new role to lead to a more effective statehouse.
John, who was re-elected to a third term in the Ohio House of Representatives last month, is poised to become the next house majority floor leader.
But what does that mean?
House Republicans informally selected John majority floor leader during a private caucus meeting. An official vote will take place when the Ohio House reconvenes in January.
According to The Ohio Legislature’s website, the majority floor leader is responsible for developing and implementing the majority party’s agenda.
As majority floor leader, John will work with the assistant majority floor leader and party whips, who are charged with keeping track of member support for various pieces of legislation.
“Whips are responsible for keeping track of who’s voting yes and no, for what and support or lack of support for legislation as it’s moving through,” John explained.
A big part of her role will be improving communication between members of the Republican caucus, including party leaders.
“Politics is all about relationships. It’s about relationships between those elected officials and constituent base; it’s also about communication amongst members,” she said.
John said that latter element suffered during the current general assembly following a contentious speaker vote last year.
“I’ve gone to other members of leadership to say, ‘Can you tell me what is happening with this bill?’ or ‘What is even happening in session?’ And they have not been kept in the loop,” she said.
“We feel that we have not been as effective at General Assembly because of the conflicts that have existed over the last two years,” she added. “Our goal is to really get back to work.”
How is a majority floor leader selected?
Under the Ohio Revised Code, members of the state House of Representatives can elect a speaker, speaker pro tempore and “other officials.”
“Other officials” aren’t specified, but often include positions like majority floor leader, minority leader, majority whip and minority whip.
Per Ohio Revised Code, members of the Ohio House will be paid an annual salary of $72,343 in 2025; those in leadership positions earn slightly more. As majority floor leader, John would be paid $96,917.
She is set to serve alongside incoming Rep. Matt Huffman, who will return to the House in January after serving in the Ohio Senate.
House Republicans unanimously voted in support of Huffman during a caucus meeting after Rep. Jason Stephens announced in mid-November he wouldn’t seek re-election as speaker.
“Typically, the incoming speaker kind of picks their leadership team, so we had worked on that ahead of time,” John said.
“I had been asked a while back if I would serve on leadership, if (Huffman) was chosen as speaker. So a slate of officers’ leadership was presented and (the Republican caucus) voted yes.”
What caused contention among House Republicans?
John said the recent contention among House Republicans began in January 2023 with a splintered vote for Speaker of the House.
After selecting State Rep. Derek Merrin in an informal caucus vote, more than 20 Republican House members broke with the party and voted with House Democrats to elect Stephens, per reporting from the Associated Press.
Merrin later filed a lawsuit against Stephens in an effort to gain control of Republican campaign funds. A court order in Merrin’s favor was reversed by the Ohio 10th District Court of Appeals.
The Associated Press reported in-fighting between Ohio’s Republican lawmakers hurt the party’s effectiveness in passing legislation.
Despite having supermajorities in both the House and Senate, the legislature set a record in 2023 for the lowest number of bills passed since the 1950s.
John said some members having been “playing politics” since the Stephens speaker vote.
“It was about who supported and who voted for the Speaker and it shouldn’t be about that,” she said.
“We should be able to come together following a speaker vote and still get results for our district. That’s my goal is that we can come together.”
“There’s lots of policy that needs to be looked at across the state of Ohio — energy policy, education, infrastructure, broadband,” she said.
